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January 27, 2016 | Create

We find company cultures fascinating. Every business – from start-up to blue chip – has a different way of operating based on its shared values and beliefs.

Most of you will be familiar with Daniel Pink’s book ‘A whole new mind’. In it he explains how the economy is moving from ‘the information age’ to the ‘conceptual age’. Businesses no longer need automation and information, they need creative assets such as design, storytelling, and play. It is less ‘left brain’ and more ‘right brain’ (intuition and creative thinking). So how do you foster a culture of creativity in your business and team?

Here are our suggestions:

Tell everyone they are creative.
Inspiring a creative culture needs to start with everyone. From the person on reception to everyone at board level. It’s an attitude not a rare talent. Everyone has the ability to be creative and they need to know that – so tell them.

Ask why?
Encourage people to ask why? And why not? Stop people from becoming robots and doing things ‘the way we have always done it’. The same stuff tends to produces the same results and that is not creative.

Curiosity did not kill the cat.
Get people to be curious about everyone and everything. Creativity is about problem solving and putting new things together in a new way. How can you be at your most creative if you have the same route to work, go to the same bars, eat the same food and do the same things day after day? Fostering a ‘magpie’ personality will mean that you are constantly building up a bank or library in your head of things that you can be creative with.

Share ideas
Two brains are better than one, so imagine what a whole group of brains would bring? Your mediocre idea just might become a great idea when you share it with others.

Shiny new things
Don’t be afraid of change. Try new things. Why? Because then you will say fresh. Continue to invest into that bank of creativity in your brain we mentioned earlier.

Massive fail!
Don’t be afraid to fail – even massively. Failing will mean you will learn. Being creative is about trial and error. If you are combining new things in a new way you can’t be sure it is going to work – but equally you can’t be sure it is going to fail. One thing is for sure – either way you will learn something new which is far more valuable than success or failure. What have you got to lose?